Welcome to NaNoWriMo 2010!!

Happy NaNoWriMo!!!! So far, I’m well on the way to overachievement. To reach 50,000 words, one needs to write 1667 words a day. So far for today I have 5669 words. I’m aiming for 100,000 this month. Seeing as both years prior I reached 50K by the 15th or 16th, I think it’s totally doable. That’s 3334 words a day, so even by that standard I’m ahead.

Aside from the excitement of NaNo, I have more exciting news to share. What could be more exciting than NaNo, you ask? Well, I didn’t think anything, until last Saturday. That’s when John asked me to marry him! (And I said yes.) So on top of NaNo, I have a wedding to start planning. That will be the only crimp in my quest for 100K, but things are falling into place, and once we get the major items booked (reception hall, photographer, musicians) I’m going to try not to think about it until December. We have a venue for the ceremony booked, and I already found a dress. Amazing, huh? I thought so.

I didn’t post about this sooner as we wanted to tell people in the real world ourselves before they might have read it online. But I think we’ve talked to everyone we needed to, so here it is. The date is set for next October 15, which will mean NaNoWriMo 2011 will be absolute, pure insanity. The first 2 weeks of planning month will be last minute wedding preparations. The last 2 weeks, or part of them anyway, will be the honeymoon. Good thing I’m a pantser, because I suspect I’ll get even less planning done next year than I did this year.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled NaNo news. The midnight kickoff party was a blast. We watched It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Thriller, South Park Halloween episodes, and part of Labyrinth in the 2 hours leading up to midnight. At 11:45 we each found a spot at which to write and set up our laptops, iPods, external hard drives – whatever was necessary. At midnight, we started typing furiously. At 12:30, we had a word war – the basement vs. the upstairs. I was in the basement, and had the highest word count of everyone with 1060 words in 15 minutes so won a glow stick necklace, which was pretty freaking sweet. By the end of the night I has 3370 words.

So how’s the story going? It’s not flowing as smoothly as some novels, but it’s not going too badly either. I still don’t really know where this is all going, but at least the words are coming. There are some scenes I love, others I hate, and more I’m neutral about. That’s what editing is for. I also decided I don’t like word wars. If the novel is going smoothly, they’re fine, but if it’s not, I end up writing a bunch of junk I know I’ll edit out in December. So I don’t think I’ll do any more unless A) the words are flowing or B) I’m really behind on my word count and need the boost.

The last scene I wrote at the kickoff party was a dream sequence, and I love it! I don’t know what it means, but it’s one of those scenes that I know will be lead to brilliance later on in the novel.

And I must say – Mothman Prophecies and Silent Hill soundtracks are perfect for this novel. Super creepy – just what I need.

Comments

Yeah on your word count! I’m taking the slow and steady course unless I’m struck with amazing insight and got to get it on paper.
Congratulations on your engagement!! How exciting! 🙂
Happy planning and writing. <3